Specific inhibition of response to purified protein antigens

Abstract

The injection of large doses of pneumococcus polysaccharides into adult mice fails to stimulate antibody formation and prevents subsequent small doses from stimulating antibody formation. This inhibition—termed immune paralysis (Felton 1949; Felton, Cameron & Prather 1941; Felton, Kauffmann, Prescott & Ottinger 1955) persists for at least 15 to 18 months. It is not possible to produce a similar effect with protein antigens. Dixon & Maurer (1953, I955 a,b ) injected very large quantities of bovine serum albumin into adult rabbits, 18 g/kg rabbit over a period of 6 weeks. Within 6 weeks of these injections four of the five animals produced antibody in response to injections of bovine albumin. It is not surprising that a long time elapsed before antibody could be detected, since during the persistence of antigen in the body, all antibody released would have combined with that vast excess of antigen.